The appeal by Mr. Adegboyega Oyetola was dismissed by the supreme court.
On Tuesday, the Supreme Court rejected the appeal made by Adegboyega Oyetola of the All Progressives Congress (APC) contesting Ademola Adeleke’s election as governor of Osun State on behalf of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP).
In a ruling read by Justice Emmanuel Agim, the supreme court affirmed the decision of the Appeal Court that Adeleke was duly elected as the state’s governor.
The appellant’s claim that there were excessive votes cast in the governorship election on July 16, 2022, was found to be unfounded by the supreme court.
The five members of the panel unanimously agreed to support and adopt the decision.
The appeal lacked merit, in the opinion of every panelist.
The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) pronounced Adeleke the victor of the election, noting that he received 403,371 votes to ouster the incumbent Oyetola, who had received 375,027.
However, Oyetola and his party had contested Adeleke’s victory before the Tribunal, alleging anomalies in the voting process.
On January 27, 2023, the former governor received some solace when Justice Tertse Kume, who wrote the majority opinion, overturned Adeleke’s victory and named Oyetola the poll’s victor.
According to Justice Kume, Oyetola received 314,931 valid votes against Adeleke’s 290,266.
But Adeleke and the PDP weren’t happy with the decision, so they went to the Court of Appeal, which on March 24 overturned the Tribunal’s decision and declared Adeleke the winner.
Oyetola and the PDP, who were furious with the Appeal Court’s decision, headed to the Supreme Court where they joined the Appeal Court in supporting Adeleke’s triumph.
